from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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Nutrition incentive adaptation during COVID-19 Implications for future pandemic scenarios |
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JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Cody Gusto, Laura Warner, Christine Overdevest, Catherine Campbell, and Sebastien Galindo (all at the U of Florida) |
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How did nutrition incentive practitioners adapt during COVID-19? And what did they learn about navigating future pandemic scenarios or global food system shocks?
Given their relative infancy as a nutritional access model, there remain significant opportunities to better understand the overall impact, efficacy, and adaptive capacity of SNAP-based incentive programs—particularly under extreme pandemic conditions, or comparable food system shocks.
In a new JAFSCD article, “A snapshot of nutrition incentive adaptation during COVID-19: Consensus-building with practitioners,” authors Gusto et al. present findings from a consensus-driven study designed to highlight the perspectives and experiences of nutrition incentive program practitioners regarding program operations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Corresponding author Cody Gusto can be contacted at cgusto@ufl.edu.
KEY FINDINGS - Staff burnout and/or turnover emerged as a critical early-pandemic barrier to nutrition incentive operations.
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Increased collaboration and networking between stakeholders was found to be a significant opportunity for practitioners throughout early-and late- pandemic period.
- The targeted expansion of SNAP/EBT eligibility was identified as an indispensable innovative adaptation to pandemic constraints.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH -
The belief that staff burnout is likely to persist over the next several years warrants focus on how farm-direct outlet (FDO) operators can be better supported as markets and other retail outlets where nutrition incentives are offered. Whether it is because FDOs are critically understaffed, or personnel are undertrained to manage core responsibilities while also maintaining COVID-related health and safety protocols, targeted knowledge-sharing exchanges could help to reduce overloads.
- Relevant organizations and coalition bodies should continue to host and expand facilitated cross-sectoral discussions designed to share best practices related to future pandemic mitigation efforts and encourage even greater interorganizational collaboration.
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With support for the potential long-term value of adopting innovative community-based promotion and outreach models, the Nutrition Incentive Hub for the Farmers Market Coalition could drastically expand promotion of existing outreach models, such as the market navigator projects, to help SBIP practitioners, and (particularly FDO operators, better access the limited-resource communities most in need of nutrition incentive programming.
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Photo above: Open-air farmers market with market shoppers and vendors. Photo by Martin Winkler. Content obtained via Pixabay and licensed as “free for use."
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Increasing access to food systems literature — Please take this quick survey! The Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, publisher of JAFSCD, is considering partnering with kindred journals and organizations to create a free, keyword-searchable online database of curated scholarly and grey literature on food and farming topics. Food system grey literature such as project reports, white papers, and feasibility studies are not indexed or retrievable, but represent valuable knowledge.
The goal is to make finding useful information on food systems more convenient for academics, NGO and extension staff, consultants, activists, students, program planners, grant writers, and food system funders.
We would like stakeholder feedback on this idea in the early stages of development. Please take 2-3 minutes to take the anonymous survey. Share with your colleagues and networks, too!
Question? Contact project director Dr. Tricia Jenkins or JAFSCD editor in chief Duncan Hilchey.
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